secret outlast. right now on "andrea mitchell reports," undersiege. u.s. outposts from yemen to cairo surrounded by angry protesters as outrage spread over an anti-muslim video. >> let's me state very clearly, and i hope it is obvious, that the united states government had absolutely nothing to do with this video. we absolutely reject its content and message. >> egypt's new president finally denounces the violence. but has yet to prove himself to president obama as the president explained to jose diaz-balart. >> i don't think that we would consider them an ally but we don't consider them an enemy. they're a new government trying

to find its way. they were democratly elected. >> what about mitt romney? >> there's a broader lesson to be learned here, and you know, governor romney seems to have a tendency to shoot first and aim later, and as president, one of the things i've learned is you can't do that. >> after backlash from some even in his own party, romney in virginia today did not repeat his criticism of the president's handling of the crisis. >> right now we're in mourning, we've lost four of our diplomats across the world. we're thinking about their families and those that they've left behind. what a tragedy. >> a different tone indeed. do you think the republicans are worried about a gender gap in virginia? look at faces surrounding romney at today's rally there. good day, i'm andrea mitchell live in washington. u.s. diplomatic outposts are on alert as anti-american protests continue from egypt, libya, now to yemen.

nbc chief foreign correspondent live in cairo watching developments. you're joining us by phone. talk about what happens happening in cairo and the fact that mohamed morsi belatedly seemed to have spoken against the protests but he seems to be walking a tightrope. >> reporter: belatedly and half heartedly, you could say, he condemned the violence in libya but did it with a caveat saying, yes, but we also oppose any insulting of religion and we think that this is something that should be denounced and that action should be taken against it. he was trying to talk to president obama and trying to assuage some of the fears but also address his own people and give the protests on the street a degree of credibility. his party is calling for more demonstrations tomorrow. when you look at kind of criticism and the reactions from

the government of the arab world, the one in yemen was, by far, the -- excuse me libya, by far the strongest, that was immediate and heartfelt condemnation. then in yemen today, another immediate and fairly sincere condemnation. and then this very couched statement from president morsi while he's on a european tour. >> now president morsi has yet to develop a relationship with president obama, obviously he comes from the muslim brotherhood, the muslim brotherhood supports the demonstration. we've heard strong statements today from hillary clinton and this new formulation last night, when the president to jose diaz-balart in the interview said, when asked, that he sees morsi as neither an ally nor an enemy. this is a work in progress. >> reporter: amazing. i mean, so who does the u.s. have left as allies?

the united states traditionally has had three for the last two decades anyway main allies in the arab world in the middle east, those would be israel, relations there are sometimes frayed but still very, very strong, egypt, and now saying he's not which side egypt is on, and saudi arabia, and relations between the obama administration and saudi arabia are not good because saudi arabia doesn't think that the obama administration has handled the arab spring well and has thrown its allies, like mubarak and others under the bus. so the united states doesn't have very many friends left in the arab world, or strong friends left in the arab world. and i think it's a very different region that the united states is finding itself in, partly because of the united states' doing by supporting this shot into the dart that was known as the arab spring. >> exactly right. richard engel, thanks for your

reporting. and now chris cillizza, and the senior correspondent and soeriate editor for "the washington post" both joining us. first to you, you've spent so much time traveling and writing books in the region. let's talk about what's happening in egypt because we're see a completely new relationship now, and egypt is the centerpiece of our connections in the arab world. >> it is. it is sort of the spiritual capital of the arab world. people all around that region look to cairo for guidance on so many things. we are entering this really uncharted period and it's worth noting morsi, the egyptian leader, doesn't have a relationship, a real relationship yet with washington. yet he's been to tehran, to china, he's been to saudi arabia. it seems to be sending a message that the days of that special relationship between cairo and

washington are over. and if there's a real debate to be had on the campaign trail, it's not about what was sent out by the embassy in cairo yesterday as these protests were flaring. but it really has to do with the question of how is the united states managed the arab spring? the president is speaking now. the president speaking and chris let's listen. >> so, what i want all of you to know is that, we are going to bring those who killed our fellow americans to justice. i want people around the world to hear me to all of those who would do us harm new york act of terror will go unpunished, it will not dim the light of the values that we proudly present to the rest of the world. no act of violence shakes the resolve of the united states of

america. and i directed my administration to do whatever is necessary to protect all americans serving abroad. it's one of my highest priorities as president. we're also in contact with other governments to underscore that they've got an obligation to cooperate with us to protect our citizens. that's part of their job. now i know that it's difficult sometimes seeing these disturbing images on television because our world is filled with serious challenges. it's a tumultuous time that we're in. but we can and we will meet those challenges, if we stay true to who we are. and if we remind ourselves that we're different from other nations. we are -- we are different not only because of the incredible landscape that god's given us,

we're different because we're a nation that's bound together by a creed. we're not made up of a single tribe or a single religion or a single race. we're a collection of people from all around the world who came here because of a certain set of principles, the idea that all men and women are created equal. that we are all endowed by our creator with certain inalienable rights. that's what binds us together. that's what our flag means. but we also believe that these are not just american rights. we believe these are universal aspirations and they're held by people who live in tiny villages in libya, prosperous cities in europe, that's our light to the world. and our task is the most powerful nation on earth is to defend and protect and advance our people but also to defend and protect and advance those al

views at home and around the world. that's what our troops do. that's what our diplomats do. that's what our intelligence officers do. that's what our citizens do. that's what we believe those are the values that we hold to. and here in america, there is no more fundamental part of our democracy than the fact that all of you get a say in the decisions that are made about our country's future. and that's why we're here today. you know over the past few weeks, colorado, you've been offered two very different paths for our future. you've seen their convention, you've seen ours. and now you chase -- now you face one big choice.

>> as the president opened his regular stump speech today with a very strong statement of american values, without attacking mitt romney or referring in any way, chris, to what romney had said which has become controversial even among some republicans. >> i would say watching that, if you didn't know, and of course we do, but if you didn't know barack obama was a democrat, that speech at least the front end of it, about where america's different, we will hunt down those who have done these acts, we will not let terrorists win, that stuff could be said by a democratic or republican president, and i would say it's at least in part answer to critics who say he's too soft, he's not taking a forceful enough role here. switching over to romney, i just broadly, this election -- i know we're focused on libya and there's an argument to be made it has some influence -- but the election will still be decided

on whether people believe barack obama has done enough on the economy or whether it needs a change and mitt romney is the change agent. i don't understand romney's press conference yesterday in which he did double down in a lot of ways on the statement that his campaign put out late tuesday night. regardless of what you think of the philosophy there, the political strategy, to me, done make sense, which is the political strategy if this is another day of foreign policy, what mitt romney wants to talk about is the economy, the economy, the economy, yes, he has to clear the commander in chief bar but wins or loses this election not based on libya but based on the economy in ohio, florida, north carolina, colorado, iowa, new hampshire. and that's why i found it baffling. what a lot of republican strategists types were nervous about, from a purely political strategy point of view. >> i'll tell you some republican foreign policy experts were nervous and clearly uncomfortable. here's john mccain on "morning joe" with joe scarborough. >> so would it be better to just

wait a few days before having that kind of press conference? >> you know, joe, it's in the heat of the battle, you get all kinds of advice and you get all kinds of second-guessing. i'm not prepared to do that. >> john mccain, not wanting to criticize romney directly, but clearly not coming to his defense, not supporting the posture that romney had taken the day before by doubling down on the whole question of the president's supposed apology, attributing a press officer's statement in cairo, six hours before a protest to the president of the united states was considered quite a stretch. >> yes. we all know that when these immediate statements are put out in an attempt to diffuse violence far from washington, they're not vetted in the west wing of the white house before they go out. look, there was clearly nervousness on the republican establishment, particularly

those who are smartest on foreign policy in embracing romney's comments and we've clearly saw distance there yesterday. and i think those who came out to try to back romney were pretty few and far between in the republican community. i think we're now starting to see a shift here from romney's remarks in virginia, a different tone. >> talking about those who had been lost. we should point out we know of another victim there are four people, of course who died, the ambassador, as well as three others. we now though that glenn dougherty, 42, a private security guard, was among those killed. his sister said he was on security detail, protecting the ambassador, also helping the wounded when killed. and so the bodies will be returned to washington and of course they will be services for the four, as well as shawn smith, who was a gamer, chris cillizza, this is more in your world than mine, but he was

apparently an avid gamer among his other skills and talents and had, you know, millions of people who follow these games and many, many people who knew him very well by his avatar. >> andrea, you assume, just because i'm a political nerd i'm in gaming. but i'll take it. i think that's a fair point. look, i would say broadly about this, what mitt romney said today, and this is to rajiv and your point, what mitt romney said today is what he probably should have said yesterday. we mourn the loss of living sean smith, the ambassador, the other folks who lost their life and make a broad point about what role you think america should play in arab world but to talk president obama did this and this wrong he would have been better off giving today's statement yesterday. >> thanks so much. great to have you here. next, more easing today from the

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as many market watches are expected the federal reserve today indicated it will buy $40 billion of mortgages per month until the jobs outlook improves the third round of quantitative easing. cnbc's senior economics reporter steve liesman joins me now from the fed. we're going to to get the news conference from chairman bernanke but this was the best telegraphed move in a long timing. this indicated real concern about the softness in the jobs market. >> i think it does. you're correct, andrea, part of it was telegraphed.

i think it's actually more than the market and some of the closer fed observers expect. and that's because it says $40 billion a month. it really open-ended. there's a statement in there that says, you know what? if the market doesn't improve we'll do more. it also says, even as the recovery strengthens we'll keep our easing monetary policy in place. the dollar amounts, right. the language, though, suggests the fed may be throwing the kitchen sink at the problem and warning that the stove and refrigerator could be next. >> some republicans critical of that. this shows that bernanke's got the lead and they're plowing ahead as you point out, more than expected. >> i think that's right. i think it does show political independence on the part of the federal reserve. but there is one thing to think about, i don't think any fed official would admit this, the idea they're only doing

mortgages and not mortgage backs and treasuries, it may be a political element to that, and by that i mean, who is now going to step forward and say, you know what? the fed buying mortgages to drive down the average american's mortgage rate, that's a bad thing. so perhaps there's a little bit of nod to the charged political climate we're in now by the federal reserve buying the mortgages here. >> let me ask you a quick question on oil prices, beginning to move -- beginning to react to the developments in the middle east. >> reporter: i think that's part of it. but also as you know, these oil prices have gone up when the federal reserve has taken actions like this. a big debate among economists as to whether or not the fed is driving up inflation. either way i don't think the average guy at the gas pump cares why it's going up. it's going up and that's going to hurt spending and it's going to hurt consumers and that's something the economy has to deal with, along with the lackluster growth from the financial crisis it's already dealing with. >> steve liesman, the best in the business, thank you for

taking time out on a busy day at cnbc. are we at a turning point in the campaign? vin webber joins us from the romney team. we make a simple thing. a thing that helps you buy other things. but plenty of companies do that. so we make something else. we help make life a little easier, more convenient, more rewarding, more entertaining. year after year. it's the reason why we don't have customers. we have members. american express. welcome in. ♪ [ acou[ barks ]ar: slow ] ♪ [ upbeat ] [ barks ]

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and two pills for a day free of pain. ♪ and get the all day pain relief of aleve in liquid gels. mitt romney had a noticeable change of tone focusing on the loss of the diplomats, not accusing the president of apologizing and causing some of the problems. this after some criticism even from some republicans of the -- of mitt romney's initial response to the crisis. joining me is vin webber, former member of congress. thank you, vin. good to see you. >> always good to be with you. >> there was a noticeable change of tone today. let me play a little bit of what president obama said to jose diaz-ballart on telemundo last night. >> my obligation is to focus on security for our people, making sure that we gather all of the facts, making sure that we're advancing american interests, and not having ideological

arguments on a day when we are mourning the loss of outstanding -- outstanding folks who have served our country very well. >> there's a long tradition, vin, that you know welling bipartisan tradition, of in moments of crisis saying we have one president at a time, we mourn the death of our colleagues of our diplomats, and i'll have more to say about the broader issues of u.s. policy. i mean any number of ways. why do you think that governor romney responded as he did the night before last and then again yesterday, double down on it? >> well, governor romney wrote a book called "no apologies" and his first response was to the terrible things that happened in egypt were a sense of outrage at american statement of apology. so i think that was his first reaction. i think it was a correct reaction, we don't want to change it. as you pointed out he's not

campaigning on this for the rest of the campaign but it was an appropriate first react to what he thought was a mistaken response from our government which the administration itself nine hours later disavowed. >> vin, vin, it wasn't a response. that's the point. he didn't wait long enough to get the facts. it was a preemptive statement and you can criticize the wording but it was issued by a press officer six hours before the protests, before the breach of the embassy wall. it was to try to quiet the situation. >> right. and it's worth pointing out, it didn't succeed by the way. >> correct. >> i understand their explanation and take them at the word to tamp down the protests which were going on, they had not turned violent but protests were there, but it didn't succeed. an apology, as much, issued. may have had no impact, may have -- it didn't work. i think governor romney's first inspitincts are correct. >> perhaps he was feeling

because everybody from laura ingram to rush limbaugh to the "wall street journal" accused him the day before not being tough a. enough, not running a tough campaign, if you can't win against barack obama in this economy, then we should, you know, shut down as a political party. i'm paraphrasing, i'm not quoting. >> those folks are friends of mine, particularly laura, i like her a lot. we had jittery republicans not in the romney campaign but outside it because the president got a bounce out of his convention, polls show that he's taken a lead, that's beginning to fade already. but i would counsel my fellow republicans, the romney campaign's been steady for a long time, a patience strategy which has won them the nomination, put him in a virtual tie with the president of the and let's not get panicky five or sick wex weeks before the election. >> i don't know the numbers, we'll have those on nbc "nightly

news" with chuck todd at 6:30, but there has been in the last couple of days a trend of president obama opening up a lead. >> i saw that, but i also has the rasmussen poll showed governor romney retaking the lead, i saw a poll governor romney widening his lead. i think the polls will bounce up and down for a while. the president got a boost out of his convention. i think it's going to fade after a while. >> vin webber, thank you very much. up next, ally or enemy? uneasy relationship with egypt. with $1.5 billion in aid on the line. it's kevin's smartphone... mom's smartphone... dad's tablet... or lauren's smartphone... at&t has a plan built to help make families' lives easier. introducing at&t mobile share. one plan lets you share data on up to 10 devices with unlimited talk and text.

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ranking member on the house budget committee. the fact this continuing resolution is voted on indicates that there is no progress on the big issue, the fiscal cliff, a long-term solution. this noiis another ban dade bece everone wants to get back to campaigning. what about negotiations any real solution to the big problems? >> you're absolutely, this is the minimal thing to do. this keeps the government going but doesn't address the fundamental problems and i think congress should stay here until we negotiate those issues. later this afternoon, we're going to have a vote on replacing the sequester. but the republican bill, even if it passes, would not replace the sequester. we have a democratic alternative, a substitute that we proposed that would in fact prevent the sequester from taking place for a year through a mix of additional cuts but

revenues from things like closing big oil subsidies and we're not being allowed a vote on that. but that would take the balanced approach, the bipartisan framework that's been recommended, and prevent the sequester from taking place. republicans who came that they want an open process are not allowing us a vote on that alternative. >> what about the farm bill? you have farmers coming to town with the tracker. still not resolved? >> another example of a bill that's passed the senate, but the house republican leadership cannot get its act together. another bill that's passed the senate is the president's proposal to extend middle class tax relief for 98% of the american people, republicans are saying that nobody gets any tax relief unless people like mitt romney and companies like bain capital get a bonus tax cut. that's the position they've taken. again, this is all part of their

theory, a failed theory, providing a bond us in round of tax breaks to people like mitt romney is going to somehow help the economy when we know it crashed it last time we did that. we need to take a balanced approach to the long-term deficit and pass the president's jobs bill. talk about another bill. it's within year ago this month that the president proposed greater investment in infrastructure, greater incentives to small businesses. no action, right? 37 times they voted to repeal obama care, not one vote on the president's jobs bill over the last year. >> congressman, let me ask you about egypt because there's some talk, and i don't know h, that $1.5 billion, to egypt under president morsi could be at stake if he doesn't show more resolve to stand up and protect our embassy. what do you think is going to happen? >> well, there's no doubt, andrea, that we should have a serious conversation with the

egyptian government before we continue with the aid. however, it would also be counterproductive to our own interest, american interests, if we somehow just cut off our ties with egypt. that would be a huge mistake. so we need to have a serious conversation with them about the future direction in egypt. but just as in libya, it would be a mistake to sort of, you know, decide that we're not going to engage with libya anymore. we have major interests in these regions and the president's been exactly right in the way that he's approached these very serious issues of american national security and foreign policy. >> i should point out, as we honor the service of ambassador stevens, your on father, i think, was an ambassador to sri lanka in the '70s, correct? you come from a diplomatic family. >> i do, andrea. my father was a career foreign service officer, just like ambassador chris stevens, who is

a constituent of mine, which is why i found it so appalling some people would try to take a political advantage at a time like this when the country is grieving the loss of fine public servants. ambassador chris stevens, as you know, helped rebels obtain freedom from the gadhafi regime. he really is an american hero, like all foreign service officers and the other people in our embassy who lost their lives and those who continue to work every day. >> thank you very much. thank you for joining us today. let's take a look back to this day 19 years ago. it was nothing short of breathtaking, two veteran warriors of middle east battlefields joining a young american president in the first step toward peace. arafat's instigation a handshake between two men who had been bitter enemies for decades. >> nearly two decades later the hope and promise of that days a distant memory as the middle

east is engulfed in violence from syria to libya, egypt and today yemen. joining me now, martin indyk, former u.s. ambassador to israel, and back in 1993, president clinton's top adviser on the middle east at nsc working on that very event. i was standing on the south grounds, broadcasting like. you were in the rooms trying to get that handshake to happen. >> yeah, it's amazing to think how far things have deteriorated since that bright september day when it seemed like everything was possible in terms of peace. raben saying enough of violence, bloodshed, time to make peace. >> and clinton holding his arms out saying what we promise you, people of the middle east, is the quiet miracle of a normal life. >> the quiet miracle of a normal

life. now look at yemen today, look at libya, cairo. is egypt our biggest challenge potentially because of its siz , its importance, its strategy relationship the peace treaty with israel and the fact that president morsi done seem to have decided which way he wants to go. >> look, there's no doubt egypt is the cornerstone of our whole strategy for protecting and promoting our interests in the region. the egyptian/israel peace treaty makes it impossible for other arabs to contemplate war with israel. it doesn't make it impossible for iran, but they're not arab. it makes it possible to try to resolve the arab/israel conflict. if we lose the peace treaty, basically, we've lost 30 years of effort to resolve the arab/israeli conflict. >> what did you think of what the president said to jose diaz-ballart of telemundo last night when asked about israel and morsi? he said, he's neither -- i

wouldn't consider him an ally, i wouldn't consider him an enemy. what does that make the egyptian president? >> well, i think it's a work in progress, which is very realistic in terms of where the situation is today. essentially the united states has made a bet, a big bet, a gamble, but there's not a lot of alternative, to see whether it's possible to engage with a democratically elected muslim brotherhood president whose ideology is antithetical to the united states but whose pragmatism, his need to respond to the people who put him in office, and provide them with jobs and housing and a decent life, that's what they expect of him. and the hope is, the gamble is, that that will prevail over his anti-western, anti-secular,

anti-democratic ideology. he's against the -- against women's right, minority rights and so on. so we'll have to see how that works out. but it's, you know, alternative is what? to abandon the effort, abandon the hope that we can somehow work with a democratically elected government in egypt to try to find a better way to promote our interests. i don't think we really have any choice to do that. but today he has criticized -- i wouldn't say condemned, du criticized the attack on our embassy. he's walking a fine line. he's got salafis to his right that are harder line than him and he has to condemn the den gration of the prophet muhammad. but this is a work in progress and we will have to test it day by day. we necessarily have to hold to our standards and requirements

and see whether they can live up to them. >> we have to leave it there. >> embassy martin indyk, someday we'll return to hope and peace on the south lawn of the white house, i hope together. next, inside story on the susan g. komen controversy, account from the former executive who led the decision to cut funding it planned parenthood. time for the "your business" entrepreneur of the week. joshua davis knows the frustration of looking for funding. after being turned down by multiple lenders, the owner of the gelato fiasco contacted a community group making loans to small business owners. he got the money he needed and he's back to focusing on flavors. "your business" sundays 7:30 on msnbc. bob... oh, hey alex. just picking up some, brochures, posters copies of my acceptance speech. great! it's always good to have a backup plan, in case i get hit by a meteor. wow, your hair looks great. didn't realize they did photoshop here.

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hi, everyone, i'm tamron hall. on "news nation," the president called the situations in egypt, libya, yemen tumultuous and said no act of terror will go unpunished. more on what the president said in the last hour. governor romney's mess created by his own words. what senator mccain said today when pressed to answer whether he agrees with his party's presidential nominee. we are learning one of the victims killed in the attack was a former navy s.e.a.l. from ma m. more on his life. pennsylvania voter's i.d. law faces its last big stand before election day.

welcome back. when controversy erupted this year over the susan g. komen foundation's decision to stop funding planned parenthood fingers were pointed at vice president karen handle, who ace republican candidate in georgia opposed planned parenthood funding. kohmen's founder and ceo came here to defend the decision and in a sense absolve handle of blame. >> well let me just, for the record, tell you karen did not have anything to do with the decision. this was decided at board level and also by our mission. >> in the days following my interview with brinker handle resigned her position. bringer herself stepped back from her day-to-day leadership of the organization as it regroups. now handle has written her side of the story "planned bullihood" and karen handle joins me now. thank you for joining us. >> thank you for having me. >> i very much want your perspective in the days that

followed that decision. there was a lot of controversy over exactly what happened. tell us, from your perspective, what your role was and how the kohmen group responded. >> i was a senior vice president of public policy, brought on board to doe advocacy for the organization and as things played out, komen was looking at how to deliver breast health services in the best, most effective way. unfortunately, what transpired, as you saw the left and planned parenthood bullied up on komen over $700,000 when komen was about breast health. not about politics, planned parenthood made it about politics. >> but of course, they say that you all made it about politics by going after planned parenthood, that there was, in fact, a decision made because of politics to go after planned parenthood which was being opposed by many groups, conservative republican groups, who believed that planned parenthood's role in abortion

care or providing abortion services, and reproductive services, which is about 3% of what they do, not the mammography, not the breast health, that that was the focus and that this was basically a game plan since you first entered. >> well, first of all, the issues with planned parenthood had been affecting komen for a decade, long, long before my time. what i find interesting is that it's somehow is political to not want to give grants to planned parenthood but apolitical to force an entity to do the grants. bottom line for komen they were focused on the best interest of women and breast health. planned parenthood does not do mammograms. when i think of breast cancer, most americans think of breast cancer, it not left, it not right, it's just about saving women from this horrible disease and that was komen's focus.

>> let me focus on the days following that interview with nancy brinker, when the decision was reversed you write in your book that karl rove and others, debbie wasserman schultz pressured brinker to back down on the position that you had taken. now we've gotten in touch with both karl rove and debbie wasserman schultz and spokes people for them say that did not take place, karl rove is denying any involvement, wasserman schultz is saying -- he says mrs. handle's account is not accurate and wasserman schultz says characterization of the call to nancy bringer as threatening could not be further from the truth. i can only relate how it was related to me when events were unfolding. what i can tell you is that, it is without question that komen was on the receiving end of a bullying beat-up by planned parenthood and the left. the organization was receiving

bomb threats. we had congresswoman debbie wasserman schultz was weighing in, no question trying to pressure the organization. corporate sponsors were being contacted and told, see what we're doing to komen if you don't stop supporting them, you're next. that's bullying to the absolute definition of it. >> you claim that you became scapegoated with -- been in touch with komen they say you're entitled to your own recollects, they're moving forward. what way were you scapegoating. >> the scapegoating came from the liberal media and the left. i singled out for my politics and our friend, nancy brinker, our mutual friend was singled out for her politics. and yet the politics of planned parenthood of their president, when was given a complete pass. you didn't see nancy brinker speaking and vilifying the left, yet 15 seal richards was aqui

note speaker for the democratic convention. she's on the campaign trail for barack obama. the organization is giving up yards of $10 million in political ads to support barack obama. she even received a phone call from him. komen has been completely apolitical focused on one thing only, and that's breast cancer. the only people who made this about politics was planned parenthood and the left. >> but by ending the funding to planned parenthood, you were in effect denying screenings to millions of women who rely on planned parenthood because they cannot afford medical care on their own, private physicians. >> that is absolute nonsense. komen was realigning those dollars in better, more effective programs so they could do more mammograms, more screenings because planned parenthood does not do mammograms. let's also keep in mind 700,000 in planned parenthood's $1 billion budget is inconsequence shall.

planned parenthood wanted the alignment with komen because it game them legitimacy, credibility, allowed them to wrap themselves in the pink. that's what this was about, and komen has always been focused on its mission and continue to be focused on that mission. >> if planned parenthood was not doing a useful service, why did komen then reverse ifrts and re-engage planned parenthood? >> that's a question you have to ask of komen. what i can tell you, i disagreed with the decision. i felt that komen should have held the line because, again, breast cancer is not about left, it's not about right. komen didn't want to be in the abortion wars. we wanted to be only about breast cancer. >> why, then, is there a widespread perception that you were pushing komen into politics where it had never been before in decades and decades of laud to her work? when you and others who are very strongly opposed to any kind of abortion rights, that your entry

into the fray is what facilitated this move against planned parenthood? >> that was the press's spin on it. that did not happen within the organization. the issues with planned parenthood has been affecting the organization for long before my time, a decade at least. i only came into komen in april. are you suggesting that as one person i came in and was able to do all that in one fell swoop? that's ridiculous. they were trying to do the best thing they could with their grants. they wanted to go to direct mammography providers instead of having the middle woman, if you will, involved in it so they could do more for women. they were always realigning those dollars and it was the press with the help of planned parenthood who hijacked this for the sake of politics. >> well, i think it was also to a great degree the membership, because it's been the women and men who were members of komen who had an impact on the

reorganization. we have to it leave it there. thank you for joining us today. >> thank you for having me. i appreciate it. thank you. >> we will be right back. this country was built by working people.

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for real. ...that make a real difference. ♪ i guess we're looking at more fallout from the continuing events in libya, yen mem and egypt. >> andrea, fast changing situation, unpredictable and i would say that makes it hard to view through a political lens for president obama and mitt romney. mitt romney has got a lot of negative attention in the last 48 hours. it's difficult for both politicians. there's so much changing on the ground. it's difficult to calibrate the right response and when it to give and bha to say next. >> we will pick it it up tomorrow. that does it for edition of "andrea mitchell reports." now we go to tamron hall with "news nation." sparkle up your world by sprinkling the stimulating gain fireworks scent booster

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